Leland Yee thinks gamers have "no cred" about violence and should shut up about it.

California State Senator Leland Yee should be no stranger to gamers after he introduced the 2005 bill that made sales of M rated games to minors a crime, which was later struck down by the Supreme Court.

Well, he still wants games regulated, and apparently doesn’t like how hard gamers are defending them. In an interview, Yee shared that he thought, “Gamers have got to just quiet down[...] Gamers have no credibility in this argument. This is all about their lust for violence and the industry’s lust for money. This is a billion-dollar industry. This is about their self-interest.”

So, sit back and take your lumps like a good gamer while the lawmakers decide what’s best for you.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this writer personally tends to speak up not just in defense of gaming, but of myself. When someone attacks my primary hobby in a way that paints it as some hazard that could turn me into a psychopath at any moment, I’m likely to speak up and prove the content of my character is defined by more than the contents of my shelves and computer directories.

Of course, The San Francisco Chronicle points out that even with violent games being some of the most visible, Wii Sports and The Sims are pretty impressively popular. Let’s just hope the gaming industry’s opposition doesn’t notice how many televisions have been the victims of Wii related accidents, and try to spin it as being induced by rage.

From what I think, Yee lives in America, where it's kind of anti-American to say shit like that, and to say that gamers don't have the cred to speak up and defend what they enjoy is like telling a doctor that they have no cred of what medicines to prescribe. Not to mention that something like that might not end at gaming, either. Maybe foreign policy, health care, things like that. What other things does he think that only lawmakers have any right to voice opinions on?

Hard for gamers to do that, though, when you see a constant barrage of politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, use the industry as a scapegoat, and it's so many at once that it's nearly impossible to defend yourself against such an assault

Hopefully voters get him out, but I doubt it. This is probably why this sort of issue only comes up when there's something like a school shooting: they think they can get votes this way somehow, and there's enough dumb people out there that'll refuse to do simple research, let people like this tell them what to think, then they vote for them without the slightest lick of thought or without knowing about anything they stand on.

I hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space, with the tuning fork, does a raw blink on Hari-Kari rock! I need scissors! 61!

From what I think, Yee lives in America, where it's kind of anti-American to say shit like that, and to say that gamers don't have the cred to speak up and defend what they enjoy is like telling a doctor that they have no cred of what medicines to prescribe. Not to mention that something like that might not end at gaming, either. Maybe foreign policy, health care, things like that. What other things does he think that only lawmakers have any right to voice opinions on?

Hard for gamers to do that, though, when you see a constant barrage of politicians, Democrat and Republican alike, use the industry as a scapegoat, and it's so many at once that it's nearly impossible to defend yourself against such an assault

Hopefully voters get him out, but I doubt it. This is probably why this sort of issue only comes up when there's something like a school shooting: they think they can get votes this way somehow, and there's enough dumb people out there that'll refuse to do simple research, let people like this tell them what to think, then they vote for them without the slightest lick of thought or without knowing about anything they stand on.

Amusing to hear that being said from a politician that's probably very much against government regulations in all other parts of life.

I don't think he realizes that someone like him who's never played a game in his life is the one that really has no say in this matter.

They can never get through with legislation against games, he has one understanding and that is that there is a lot of money in the industry. The gaming and publisher companies have the money to spend on a lobby.

It's things like this make me wonder that politicians have nothing else to do.

Trust that a portion of people will be ignorant or already oppinionated and appeal to them using the lowest form of logic available. The sad part is it works.

Thank god the Supreme Court are'nt composed entirely of idiots. However flaws, atleast they can tell scapegoats and political spin from factual evidence which is why he'll be shut down again in further attempts. While I respect his freedom of speech, he should be required by law to wear a sign over his head saying "Facts may not be true. I may be lying in my statements" and then just let the man rant on as he wants.

But then again.. He would'nt have any reason to blabber like that if there was no chance people would blindly believe him, so I guess that defeats the purpose.

Ah well. Books were once the enemy, then radio, TV and now video games. We still got the three prior so I don't expect the most interactive of the mentioned media to go anywhere. He's just another voice in the wind that sounds a bit strange in comparrison to the others, but will eventually die down when the smart people prove him wrong.

Enough with bashing eachother, guys.. This community is still young and needs to grow up and show that not everyone are jerks. We're gamers and we enjoy games, don't bash eachother over what games they like or their oppinions, but don't let them bash others either. We need to come together and stand up, as a community, and help eachother out by being respectful and understanding. Please.

People like this are the worst. They hide behind their petty world from 1960 and try to force decades old principles on modern communities, fully ignorant of hard facts. If you'd send this Lee guy weeding your garden he would probably just rip out everything green, just in case. Makes you wonder what else might happen if such types actually had their way.

This dude believes serving in the army is honourable, but thinks video games have a harmful effect on people? Please. Only one of those encourages violence and trains you to kill, and it sure as shit ain't video games.

Well, the essential question should be allowed though...
Why are there so many violent games, and why are they so popular. I am not talking about games that have mildly violent parts within. I am talking about games that are entirely violent, and very graphic in that matter.
And I don't agree with the OP.... Yee is an American, and it is not anti-american what he says. It's in fact the opposite. It's all american.
First Amendment applies to him as well. As much as one may disagree with him, he still has the right to say what he says. And in a way he is actually not so wrong.
Both, Gamers and Gaming Industry have a biased view. He points that out. He could have used a more simplified language. It requires a little thinking, just a little though, to realize the difference between a suggestion "have to quiet down", and a demand "have no right to be involved".

Plus, to be fair here... The source is biased as well. It's a gamer site. So, I really disregard it right from the start, as biased.
On other topics we discredit sources which are a lot more neutral. Same measure needs to be applied here too.

My own view on the topic.
Some people overreact to video games. Yet, I do support a reasonable control and regulation.

Well, the essential question should be allowed though...
Why are there so many violent games, and why are they so popular. I am not talking about games that have mildly violent parts within. I am talking about games that are entirely violent, and very graphic in that matter.

People play video games to take on a different persona and experience life different. While it is a video game and most have quite a bit of Hollywood extreme (See Call of Duty) magic, we're still experiencing something in our living rooms that we wouldn't normally have the option to.

As for the extremely graphic ones, I'm not entirely sure which you're talking about. If it's something like Postal, well that's the selling point. However the game play is terrible and no one really enjoys it. If we're talking about the Call of Duty level where you walk through the air port killing civilians, well that's not even really that graphic and it gives the option to skip if or disable the content all together. It's not like we're seeing people blown in half and crawling across the ground with their intestines falling out. We're seeing sub par blood graphics that "splash" when someone gets shot.

Originally Posted by Sarcasm

It's not that drugs are for people who can't handle reality. Reality is for people who can't handle drugs.

Well, I don't think anyone is saying it's healthy for young children to play a game like... God of War, and go around decapitating everything that moves, and fucking what you don't decapitate. That being said, the regulation of such things, imo, should be left with the parents. It's their responsibility to know what games their kids are playing, and decide what's good for them and what's not. I don't believe something like this should be regulated by the government.

That being said, there's quite a big leap in logic from, "it's not good for young kids to play extremely violent and sex filled games" to "violent games turn kids into murderers". That's retarded, and I have no problem telling anyone that thinks that that they're retarded. That's right up there with people thinking the Earth is flat and that the moon landing was faked imo.

Speaking from personal experience, I had some pretty lenient parents. I was playing Halo when I was 11 years old, and honestly, I played my fair share of Mortal Kombat around that time too. But the ultra violent video games didn't interest me all that much. Most of my childhood was dominated by Mario, Zelda and Final Fantasy. And I think I turned out okay. I've never killed anyone! In fact, I'm a very pacifistic person, and even after all the hours of God of War I still get squeamish at the sight of a decent amount of blood in real life.

These days, it's not the violence of a game that excites me. It's the story and the gameplay.

If Goku's power level increases at the same rate till the end of DBGT as it does till the end of the Frieza saga, as a SS4 Goku would have a PL of roughly 939 Quinoctogintillion. For reference that is a 260 digit number. A PL of 14,600 is required to destroy an earth sized planet. There are about 2 nonillion earths worth of mass in the universe. That means SS4 Goku can destroy the universe about 32 Octosexagintillion times over. There's a reason they made Goku a god at the end of GT.

If the argument of those that are involved and directly defending themselves have no credence, then he has no credence in defending his stand point. Delicious double standard. Maybe they'll go back to music and movies again.

I agree with him that gamers are biased and lack a lot of credibility on this issue. The most unbiased people will be people who have played video games but don't find them enjoyable anymore. I tend to think video games are a waste of time these days (I play maybe an hour a month) but I think it is retarded to believe that violent video games makes you more likely to be violent in real life. If anything, I would expect them to decrease violence by giving an outlet for aggression much like sports do.

Politicians DO have no credibility when it comes to political regulation. But politicians do have credibility as to being a politician much how gamers have credibility when it comes to being a gamer but not when it comes to gamer regulation. His logic makes perfect sense. Gamers would defend gaming even if it were shown to increase aggression just how pot smokers will defend pot smoking even though it has been shown to be correlated with a decrease in IQ.

Someone needs to send this guy a copy of Bullshit episode about violence in video games ... but he probably has no cred in the matter anyway, he is has a biased pre-determined decision on the matter, not an open mind, willing to engage in intellectual debate.